MIRROR: A Rajya Sabha election is usually not this interesting…
PATEL: Yes. The BJP was hell bent on ensuring my defeat and just because I happen to be the political advisor to Mrs Sonia Gandhi. I have fought 14 elections in my life starting from local selfgovernment bodies in Ankleshwar and Bharuch to the Lok Sabha. But this was the Mother of all Elections. Never have I seen so much of muck, money and muscle power used to defeat a candidate.

But that’s what politics is all about, isn’t it? Victory matters and the BJP is used to winning.

PATEL: Yes,victory matters. But victory in the right spirit, using the right means. In this case, the BJP got so desperate that they indulged in unethical means. First our MLAs were lured. They offered Rs 15 crore per MLA. Several of our MLAs belong to poor families. However most of them did not sell their souls. So the BJP started intimidating them. The BJP grossly misused government machinery in Gujarat to ensure their win.

What implications will your victory have on the Congress?
PATEL: My victory has infused a new energy, a raw energy into our entire cadre. I have won and lost many elections but in this case, look at the number of people who came to receive me at the Delhi airport! I myself cannot believe at the difference one victory can make! Everyone, all around the country, is so motivated. Youngsters from across the country are calling me up and are excited to join the Congress. There is a new energy, enthusiasm and determination.

Your party has not been doing well in Gujarat. For at least two decades now, it has not been in power. It is the “Gujarat Model” that inspires the BJP. How do you think this victory of yours will change political equations in Gujarat?
PATEL:My party has not performed well in Gujarat for about two decades. The socio economic realities in Gujarat are different from other States. The BJP thought that by ensuring my defeat they will finish off the Congress in Gujarat and then this Gujarat Model would be applied elsewhere. However, I have to say that the BJP hurried in writing my political obituary. We are going to fight out the BJP in Gujarat and return the glory of Gandhi’s Gujarat.

You mean, if you were defeated, Gujarat would not have seen any major action in 2017 when it faces crucial election?
PATEL:No, that is a completely wrong perception. In fact, if I had lost, I would have fought back with equal vengeance or perhaps more. Now that I have won, I will be doing the same. I have decided that I will come to Gujarat at least four times a month. I am going to teach BJP a lesson.

How do you plan to teach BJP a lesson?
PATEL:Unlike BJP, my party does not indulge in undemocratic manners. Elections and its results will be our way of teaching the BJP a lesson. First in Gujarat, and then in Karnataka and then in 2019 all over India. The youth are the hope of the country. There are less jobs all over. Development is a façade. In Gujarat, especially, there is so much anger. Youth, Patidars, OBCs, Dalits nobody is happy with the BJP government. Those heralding various movements individually should collectively take a decision.

You mean Hardik Patel and Alpesh Thakor should join the Congress?
PATEL:That is your derivation. I have not said that. What I mean is that everyone should be determined and work towards defeating the BJP. That should be the collective common Gujarat goal for 2017.

But how can you decimate the BJP? Your party reflects no unity, no cohesiveness. Your leader Jairam Ramesh recently said that the party faces an existential crisis. That the Sultanate has gone but some of you still behave like Sultans.
PATEL:That is Jairam Rameshji’s personal observation. I would not want to comment on it. I can however confidently tell you that Congress is geared up to meet challenges. We are determined to protect the original idea of India.

Shankersinh Vaghela was the most popular leader of your party in Gujarat. He quit. He said that Congress High Command wanted your defeat in the Rajya Sabha election. This means there is strong groupism within your party and your own party wanted you to lose.
PATEL:Do not believe whatever Shankersinhji says these days! He even said that he would vote for me and that he had kept his vote reserved for me. In fact, I have to admit that for five days before the Rajya Sabha election, I spoke to him on the phone daily. Every time he would tell me, Ahmedbhai, don’t worry. I am a Kshatriya. Amaare to praan jay pan vachan na jay (we can give up our life but we don’t fudge on the promises we give). Still, did he vote for me? Anyone talking about the High Command wanting to see my defeat is baseless and nasty propaganda. Mrs Gandhi was constantly in touch with me before and after the election. So was Rahulji. On the day of the polls, he was running high fever and still he kept on inquiring and spoke to me soon after I won. This propaganda by vested interest is baseless.

Even if it is baseless, the fact remains that the Congress is unorganized. You had to micromanage the RS election. You had to fly down your 44 MLAs to Bengalaru.
PATEL:That I had to micromanage my Rajya Sabha election is a fact. Room number 224 in Ahmedabad became my temporary home (he names a hotel where he stayed put). We had to fly down our MLAs for safety. But this was all because the BJP stooped down to horse-trading and negative politics. They started threatening our MLAs. The BJP was hell bent on defeating me.

Why so, why were you the target?
PATEL:I do not know and cannot think of any one reason. Some say it was personal for Amit Shah to see me defeated. But what I feel is that since I am the political advisor to Mrs Gandhi, they thought that by defeating me they could attack her and challenge her. Also, crucial assembly polls are scheduled this year end in Gujarat. By writing me off, by defeating me, they thought the Congress would get completely disintegrated in Gujarat and thereafter in India. We have proved them wrong. We are back with a never-seenbefore unity, energy and killer instinct to wipe off the BJP in Gujarat.

In 1977, when you won your first Lok Sabha election, Mrs Indira Gandhi and the Congress was facing a bad time. In 2017, the Congress and Mrs Sonia Gandhi is facing a bad time. Do you think it is a co-incidence?
PATEL:(laughs) In 1977, I was not the only MP. The Congress as a political party was facing difficult times but Gujarat gave the party 10 MPs even then. Mrs Indira Gandhi bounced back in her characteristic manner. I was the youngest MP at the time. At 26, I had much to learn. Now I am experienced. The Congress is all set to give the BJP a fitting reply. The morale of our cadre all across India is charged up.

Do you think Rajya Sabha election was more about your survival than the Congress winning?
PATEL:Absolutely not. The BJP used all possible unethical means to defeat me. They misused their power, government machinery. Defeating the Congress was their agenda. Defeating me was their tactic. The BJP employed every possible trick from their Dirty Department Division to defeat me and still failed. They wrote my political obituary but they were wrong. The Congress will soon teach the BJP a lesson for toying with democracy. We will fight them out. The war has just begun. And it has begun from Gujarat.

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